Did you watch the Governor's State of the Budget Address? | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Did you watch the Governor's State of the Budget Address?

Posted by: Erik Hungerbuhler on January 20, 2010 at 07:00pm


Miss the speech?

If you missed watching the Governor's budget address, you can read it online here, or you can listen to an MP3 of the speech here.


On Tuesday evening, Governor Steve Beshear gave his state of the budget address, presenting his vision for Kentucky's budget over the next two years. The most pressing issue needing to be addressed in this budget is our $1.5 billion dollar deficit, but the only solutions offered by the Governor were the unlikely passage of a broad gambling bill or 10% to all state services across the board.  Is this the best we can hope for?


We are encouraging members who watched the State of the Budget Address to take a moment to write a letter to the editor of their local paper about what they thought about the Governor's speech.  Newspapers across the state will be looking for people’s reactions to the budget address. Use this opportunity to build support for HB 13 as a forward-looking tax plan that is fair and that creates the public dollars we need for quality services that we can count on.



Talking points for letters


  • Share a personal story about how you or someone you know has been impacted by recent budget cuts.

  • Kentucky’s budget faces a $1.5 billion shortfall over the next 2 years. If we let this stand, it means that we have to cut the budgets for Meals on Wheels, after-school programs, and environmental protections.

  • We’ve already had 6 rounds of cuts since early 2008. More cuts would do unacceptable harm to our quality of life in Kentucky.

  • Legislators have known for more than a decade that our tax system doesn’t work.

  • HB 13, the Kentucky Forward Bill, is a proposal that would send about $100 million back to working families through an Earned Income Tax Credit. It would also raise around $300 million by closing a tax loophole for the very rich, expanding the sales tax to luxury services, and modestly adjusting taxes on income above $75,000.

  • We urge legislators to support the fair and sustainable revenue reforms in HB 13.
Issue Area(s): 
Economic Justice
Tags: 
General Assembly

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